The present invention relates to power operated vehicle seat and steering wheel positioning systems.
Power operated seats have long been employed in many vehicles. These seats typically allow the vehicle driver or passengers to position the seat to particular desired comfortable positions. Several electric motors are typically used to position the seat through particular adjustment ranges. Depending on the number of electric motors in the vehicle's seat, the seat may be moved forward or backward, up or down, raise one end while lowering the other, and the seat back incline may be also adjusted, as well as the headrest. Power operated steering wheel positioning systems have also been used in some vehicles permitting extension and retraction of the steering wheel toward or away from the driver. Switches located on either the vehicle door, instrument panel or console permit the driver or passenger to adjust the seat and steering wheel positioning as desired.
Some vehicles further include position memories allowing the driver to store one or more desired seat or steering positions in the memory. To select the desired position, the user actuates a memory switch after opening the door or entering the vehicle. The activation causes the power seat electric motors to adjust the seat to the stored position. In many vehicles, two or more seat and steering wheel positions can be stored. Thus, if two persons drive a particular vehicle, each may store a different seat position.
At the minimum, the power seat system with memory described above requires that the user open the vehicle's door. In some other cases the user must enter the vehicle and turn the ignition key on in order to operate the memory position switches.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,255 describes a user identifying vehicle control and security device which is said to respond to a particular user remote control signal to control, through the automobile memory system, the positions of the driver's seat and the steering wheel (column 12, lines 45-51). Thus, the system described requires that the vehicle already has a memory seat function in place.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a remote control vehicle memory seating positioning system for vehicles equipped with a power seating positioning system, but without a memory seat function.
Another object of the invention is to add memory positions to a vehicle already equipped with a limited number of memory seat positions.
A further object of the invention is to provide a system positioning and vehicle security system which, upon declaration of an alarm event by the security system, automatically sets the vehicle driver's seating position such that it is virtually impossible to drive the vehicle.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a remote control vehicle seating position system wherein, upon actuation of the system remote control and receipt of the predetermined code, the vehicle driver's seating position is automatically positioned to an "easy access" position, thereby providing the maximum attainable legroom for the easiest entry into the vehicle, and which, upon actuation of the vehicle ignition switch, moves the seat to a memory seat position associated with the received remote control signal code.